Colombia: Growing Socialist Bloc in Latin America Celebrates Leftist Win

Newly elected Colombian President Gustavo Petro (L) and his running mate Francia Marquez c
JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images
Frances Martel

Latin America’s leftist dictatorships enthusiastically embraced election results out of Colombia Sunday night which gave the win to Gustavo Petro, a former member of the Marxist M19 terrorist organization and a radical leftist who has claimed that sugar is “more dangerous” than cocaine.

Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, Cuban Castro regime puppet leader Miguel Díaz-Canel, and Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega embraced “brother” Petro following Colombia’s top election body certifying his victory, despite widespread election irregularities and Petro himself declaring that the election was hopelessly rigged days before voters convened on Sunday.

Petro defeated challenger Rodolfo Hernández – a construction businessman with no ideological bent outside of generally opposing corruption – by a slim margin, winning about 50 percent to 47 percent. Venezuela’s Observatory Mission of Election (MOE) documented over 300 complaints of election irregularities, including intimidating voters and vote-buying, as Petro had predicted would occur last week. Petro has not challenged the results of the election at press time.

If inaugurated, Petro will be the country’s first hard-left president.

In his victory speech, Petro insisted that he would embrace conservative Colombians and seek to unite the country, a point soundly ignored by Maduro, Ortega, and other regional leftist leaders.

“I congratulate Gustavo Petro and [vice president-elect] Francia Márquez on their historic victory in the Colombian presidential election,” Maduro wrote in a message on Twitter late Sunday. “The will of the Colombian people, who went out to defend the path of democracy and peace, was heard. New times are approaching for our brother country.”

The Argentine news outlet Infobae also noted that Diosdado Cabello, a top Maduro henchman credibly accused of running one of the largest cocaine trafficking outlets in the Western Hemisphere, also celebrated Petro, who has vowed to end Colombia’s war on drugs after the country has operated under conservatives for years.

“Colombia spoke, the profound Colombia, the one pained by Bolivarian feeling, seeking its peace and with her the peace of all the region,” Cabello said, according to Infobae. “We embrace the great victory of a people who have resisted 1,001 attacks from narco-politics, congratulations. United, we will overcome.”

Miguel Díaz-Canel similarly celebrated Petro.

“I express my most heartfelt congratulations to Gustavo Petro for his election victory as President of Colombia in a historic popular victory,” the puppet leader wrote on Twitter. “We reaffirm our willingness to progress in the bilateral relations for the well-being of our peoples.”

In 2016, the Castro regime played a key role in advancing an unconstitutional “peace deal” with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a Marxist terrorist organization that has engaged in crimes against humanity for decades.

The Leninist president of Peru, Pedro Castillo, announced on Sunday that he had personally called Petro to congratulate him.

“I just called Gustavo Petro to congratulate him on his historic democratic triumph in Colombia,” Castillo wrote on his Twitter account. “We are united by a common feeling seeking better collectives, societies, and regional integration for our peoples. Brother, Gustavo, always count on Peru’s support.”

Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega similarly referred to Petro as “brother” – or, rather, “herman@,” a misspelling of the word “hermano” (brother) that removes the masculine vowel in an attempt to make the word non-binary. Ortega addressed both Petro and the vice president-elect Márquez.

“Excellencies, herman@s, with all respect and much affection to your people, we salute your electoral victory,” Ortega wrote in a statement co-signed by wife and co-dictator Rosario Murillo. “We hope for the best for the families of our brother country and trust in your proposals and programs for life, with peace, well-being, and rights.”

Leftists elected to power in Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia sent similar congratulations.

“Your victory validates democracy and ensures the path towards an integrated Latin America in this time when we demand maximum solidarity amongst brother peoples,” socialist Argentine President Alberto Fernández, who recently honored the tomb of Chinese mass murderer Mao Zedong in Beijing, wrote.

President Gabriel Boric of Chile, who once referred to himself as “to the left of the PC [Communist Party],” called Petro’s election a “joy for Latin America.”

“We will work together for the unity of our continent in the challenges of a world that is rapidly changing,” Boric promised.

“Congratulations to the Colombian people!” Bolivian President Luis Arce of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party proclaimed. “Our congratulations to the brother Gustavo Petro and the sister Francia Márquez for their victory today … Latin American integration is strengthening.”

The victorious celebrations undermine leaked videos that surfaced last week of Petro’s wife, Verónica Alcocer, complaining that his campaign staff had not done enough to diffuse national fears that Petro was a “Castro-Chavista.”

“Change produces fear in people,” Alcocer complained in a virtual campaign meeting. “They have scared people regarding Gustavo and there is no strategy [on the campaign’s part].”

“There are educated people who think Petro is Castro-Chavista,” Alcocer protested, complaining that Whatsapp group chats by conservatives sharing concerns about her husband were doing tremendous damage to his campaign, “but since he doesn’t use Whatsapp, he doesn’t exist [there].”

Follow Frances Martel on Facebook and Twitter.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.